Post-Apocalypse
by SomberS
Summary: The apocalypse has come and gone, leaving a few sane survivors to live in a world of almost complete anarchy, Yoshiki and Ayumi need to make it to the vault to join the others, but it's a long journey. DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CORPSE PARTY OR ANY BRANDS/REGISTERED TITLES MENTIONED. Genre: Agony, Trust/Distrust, and Hurt/Peace, /watch?v KUim-02GRsI
1. Finding Hope

_A/N: Let me apologize in advance for any other game references. Ayumi X Yoshiki is going to be a bit different; I will try to keep them as much in character. For those that are confused, italics are soft noises or authors notes, depending on if I put the A/N: tag before them Bold is for loud or strong sounds, and just so you know the title of the chapter, I'm putting the title in underlines at the beginning._

Finding Hope

_BVVVVV BVV…_

_BVVVVV BVV…_

Yoshiki woke to the familiar sound of his phone on vibrate. He picked it up, trying to remember what happened before he was unconscious. He picked it up to see Satoshi calling him, sighing and answering the phone.

"HELLO! Yoshiki, are you alright?" Satoshi asked frantically over the phone.

"Yeah, my head hurts a little though…" Yoshiki responded trying to recall events before he was unconscious.

"Dude, have you not noticed, the worlds gone to shit!" Satoshi yelled, reminding Yoshiki about what had happened. Some type of government collapse that Yoshiki didn't really understand happened, causing total anarchy, with what little government was left hoarding the people that kept their sanity in sorts of vaults. Most people went insane, a large amount killed them, and he was out too long to know what else had happened. Yoshiki had a run in with some new gang that had formed, Kizami's Khans, they called themselves. Their leader had knocked him out, telling him to 'Spread the message'.

"Yeah I've been out for a while" Looking at his clock to see about a week had past, "so who's in the vault with you" Yoshiki hoped that Satoshi was with Naomi, Yuka, and Ayumi, immediately feeling a warm rush of euphoria when he thought of Ayumi 'I love her so much'.

"Just Mrs. Shinozaki, Hinoe Shinozaki, Naomi, Yuka, and I" Satoshi responded.

"Where's Shinozaki?!" Yoshiki spat out.

"We haven't seen her yet, Naomi managed to contact her, but only for a little bit, she's holed up in her house, probably having a panic attack." Satoshi explained.

"I'll go get her and get her to the vault, wait which one are you in?"

"North Vault." Satoshi responded, much to Yoshiki's dismay. North Vault was the furthest.

"Why didn't you go to East?"

"North Vault is the only one that hasn't met their limit, and there is only a few other people here, should I tell Shinozaki that you're coming?"

"No, it'll only scare her."

"Okay, be careful, most survivors have lost their minds, forming small clans of cannibals, or gangs of bandits, speaking of which, watch out for the Khans. Good Luck."

Yoshiki hung up, thinking about how scared Ayumi must be. He gathered his coat and a spare change of warm clothes 'In case Ayumi needs something clean to wear' he thought. Heading out of his apartment complex, he looked around taking in the full effect of the apocalypse. There were bodies hanging from the buildings, some were fresh, others looked dried and crusty. Yoshiki hid behind a dumpster, trying to avoid the bandits. He felt something fall on him, he looked to see a body that had been hung, and skinned, all skin was removed, and the rope around its neck was bloody, the neck was stretched out from hanging under its weight. He almost let out a shocked shout, but held it in until the people that were raiding some store left.

He continued, but at a heightened pace, trying to get to Ayumi's house before anyone could lay a hand on her. Just the thought of some sick bastard like the Khans or some cannibal finding her first scared him and angered him, causing his heart to beat faster, he could hear it clouding out his hearing, and could feel the pulsing motions all over his body, heightening his pace to a silent run, he noticed something catching his attention, a Fish and Game store.

Catching a quick stop, he entered the small store, to find most everything was either burned or missing. He looked around, eventually finding a hatchet, with a flat smashing end and a sharp cutting edge, and a few bullets, but nothing else. Knowing that the world was now much more dangerous, he stuffed the hatchet and bullets in his jacket pockets, the tip on the hatchet's safety sheath rubbing uncomfortably against his stomach. Running once again, he made short distance to Ayumi's house. Arriving completely tired, yet not the least discouraged.

Upon trying to open Ayumi's house, he found the house to be locked tight. He took the smashing hammer side of the hatchet, and made short work of the door knob and lock, opening the door to look for Ayumi.

Ayumi was holed up in her room, deep in thought of what was happening. She had tried communing with spirits to get advice, but nothing had happened. Her thoughts drifted to and argues that of Satoshi, Yoshiki, her dear sister, and Heavenly Host. 'Hinoe said that the spirits told me that I shouldn't pass up the best person in my life, but she never told me who it was…It must be Satoshi, it has to be…' she thought, but soon her thoughts drifted 'Yoshiki, he protected me… but he's a delinquent, he was probably trying to get in my pants, or trying to take advantage of me, he's so bad…but he helped me, yet he's still a delinquent and cannot be trusted' Thinking of Heavenly Host next 'I wish that I had been stuck with Satoshi, he's trustworthy and brave, he would defend me' She finally thought about Satoshi 'Satoshi is so nice, and he's the only one that would be loyal, and he will save me…unless Nakashima nabs him first, she probably has…but he's a good friend, and he'll come save me.'. Her door to her room few open, she shrieked and closed her eyes huddling in a corner, fear ran through her body as she felt large hands touch her arm, then she heard her assaulter speak.

"It's okay, you're safe now…" She looked up to see Yoshiki, light glaring in from her window surrounded him, almost silhouetting him, making him look like a Guardian or Savoir. She fell in love with the appearance, feeling safe, but only for a second, realizing where she was.

"Kishinuma" "What the hell are you doing here!" "Where's Mochida?" "Don't you know that you scared me half to death!" "Why did you break and enter!" Yoshiki smiled to himself, he listened to her ranting then thinking to himself 'Good she's alright and sane.'

"I came here to help you; we have to get to the vaults." He said, the smile disappearing, and a deep look of sternness cast upon him.

"Like hell I'm going with you! Go get Mochida!" She snapped angrily at him, and upon hearing his best friend's name, Yoshiki's expression changed from one of sternness to one of shocked anger.

"Pack what you need; I brought you a spare change of warm water-proof clothes if you need them." He said, offering the clothes to her. She bitterly took them to change in the bathroom. **SLAM** "Why the hell do you have clothes in my size! Are you some type of pervert!"

"You know I have a little sister, those are just extra clothes for her when she comes and visits." He responded. It must be a satisfactory response, since she stopped complaining about it.

"Okay, how do I look?" She stepped out of her bathroom, the small water-tight hoody barely limping off her, and the pants clinging slightly to her legs.

'So cute' he thought, "Cute to say the least" he replied, "Why?"

"You pervert, I just want to know if Satoshi will like this…" She snapped, biting her thumb nail as she looked down at the floor mentioning her fading crush.

'He's been dating Nakashima for months, when are you going to except that!' He yelled in his thoughts, but only muttered, "Oh…" letting a single tear run down his nose and drip onto the floor at the mention of her idea of a perfect person. "Well, get everything you need." He shot her a look of sudden seriousness.

"I thought I told you, I will not go with someone like you…get Mochida" She bit sternly at him.

"And I thought that I told you that he's not coming, he's in the north vault with your family." He snapped, starting to get flustered, but upon seeing her start to get upset. "Why are you separated from your family?"

"We were going to the vault and some people came and dragged me away and I managed to get away but I couldn't find my way to the vault and I came here and I was stuck here and and…" She was ranting on, starting a panic attack, Yoshiki saw this, and wrapped his arms around her.

"It's going to be alright, don't worry." He kept her close to him until she calmed down.

"Get off me!" She finally returned to the real world.

"Ha, okay, but you seriously need to pack; I'm the only one who knows you're here AND can get to you." He said, trying to win her favor with logic.

"Fine." Sighing and giving in. She packed her backpack with her sketch book, her sprit book, her IDs, just in case, and several other miscellaneous items that she felt she needed.

"You should bring a knife or gun, some type of weapon, the gangs are unrelenting." He said as he started to leave. Hearing this, Ayumi grabbed a small, but sharp military-grade spade that her dad left when he left the family, tucking it into a belt loop originally made for a hammer, but the spade fit well. She jogged for a short bit to catch up with her protector, staying close but not too close, trying to remain sane and straight-minded. She felt like a vice was surrounding her in the awkward silence.

"Sooo…what are you going to do once you reach the vault…" She queried, trying to break the silence.

"I don't know, but right now all I know is that I have to protect you…" He stated, trying to gain her trust, smiling slightly at her with closed eyes, trying to lighten the gloomy mood as they walked through the neighborhood. The sky was overcast, darkening the light that managed to get through, and the dark building that had grayed and were destroyed from the apocalypse, the figures were darkened as they moved, anyone looking from a distance of more than three meters would only see silhouettes, one large protective one and a smaller feeble one.

Ayumi wanted to be mad, but felt very sad instead, a cross between the somber world, the memories of all the times he had saved her, how bad she was to him and all the rationality and friends that Heavenly Host had taken from them. She wept silently, 'I want to trust him, tell him I'm sorry…but what if he just sees that as an opening, and he exploits me' she thought, not noticing him take note of her crying, and moving closer to her, to wipe away her tears.

"It's going to be okay" He said, towering over her, giving her a reassuring smile. She moved away after he wiped away her tears, still walking, she didn't want to lose her train of thought and forget something so important. At this point, she wanted to feel his reassuring embrace, still wishing Satoshi was with her, and not the delinquent, even though she considered both her friends.

He didn't want the embrace to stop; it was so warm in such cold weather. When she pulled out, he knew that she was trying to keep her mind on top of things. He so wished for her trust at the minimum, at least then he would stand a chance against her love for Satoshi, 'Despite the fact that he has been dating Nakashima ever since we got out of that school.' He thought to himself.

On the way to the country side, they stopped at another Fish and Game store, looking around to find nothing but a tinder kit. Collecting the tinder kit, Yoshiki noticed a small opening in the floor, pulling back the rug to reveal a small box in a crevice in the floor, with a gun within. He took the gun, quickly pulling Ayumi over to tuff it in her pocket, with the safety on. Neither new a lot about guns, but he had heard enough to figure out how a simple handgun worked, but he wanted to make sure Ayumi was safe.

They trekked to the tree line that divided them and the country-side. They agreed to pitch camp there, in the brush tree line. They enjoyed a small dinner of a shared can of beans. Ending up sleeping next to each other, under the safety of a pine tree; concealing that they were even there.


	2. Forest of Bloodletting

_A/N: There may be large amounts of time between chapters, and I'm trying to make them as long as possible._

Forest of Bloodletting

_Crunch…crackle_

Yoshiki woke up at the slight sound. Instantly ready to defend the girl next to him. Pulling the hatchet out, he quietly got up. Looking around to find Ayumi was only moving in her sleep. He decided to just stay awake; he could defend her better this way. Gazing at the sleeping girl his thoughts kept shifting around, silently scolding himself for his affections for Ayumi.

"Mochida?" Ayumi started speaking in her sleep.

_Crunch….crunch…..crunch…_

__Yoshiki assumed that it was Ayumi moving around in her sleep. Glancing over to see her movements were not synchronized with the sounds. He picked up the hatchet furiously, to him, anyone stalking them, even if it was to just say 'Hello', was a potential threat to Ayumi, and should be dealt with, at the minimum, cautiously and a blade to their backs just in case. He had to be ready to kill anyone that could have mal-intent with Ayumi. He had to protect her; for all those times that he couldn't.

Looking around he couldn't find anyone. Turning around he ran into Ayumi, stumbling over her. "What are you doing? What are you trying to do to me? Mochida would be much better." She pouted.

"I thought I heard someone." He was answering without emotion. He had to keep a clean and calm exposure; he couldn't let her have another panic attack. Secretly cursing himself though, for not being considered what Satoshi was, to her that is.

"Don't be dumb." She said, some cheer starting to return to her voice, entrancing Yoshiki and tickling his eardrums. He started packing up everything they had, minus the can of beans that they ate the previous night. He kept the hatchet drawn though, holding it ready to kill any ambush.

"I'd feel a lot safer if you put that away." She said, gesturing to the hatchet.

'I can't risk ANYTHING happening to you', He thought in return, but just said, "I just want to keep it out, and just in case we run into bandits."

"What are you going to do, chop their firewood?" She said, joking, even though she did know what it could be used for.

'She's starting to cheer up!' He thought, "Hehe, I'll poke them with sharp sticks." He said with a smile, gesturing a small thrust, and muttered, "If it keeps you safe."

They walked and talked a little, trying to forget the state that they were currently in, and lighten the mood, only to fail when everything could be related to Heavenly Host. They just stopped talking, 'He looks like a Guardian' she thought, looking up at the boy that was next to her. He was walking with the sun to the right of him, silhouetting him as he passed through the spots of light and dark in the forest. She could feel tears welling in her eyes as she felt so bad for treating the way she did, but bit her tongue, she didn't want him to see a weakness or opening.

She was too distracted by the boy to her right. She ran into a tree, with a thud, falling backwards. She rubbed her head, trying to soothe the light pain, while Yoshiki crouched down next to her, inspecting her for any type of wound. His hands were careful as they inspected her, finding no wound. He helped her up, trying to make her, feel better.

**Twang…Thunk.**

The two turned around to face the sound to find a person, skinned and hung, it looked as if they were skinned before the hanging. Ayumi screeched, turning to Yoshiki, enveloping herself in him. More bodies fell, hundreds of them, at least three per tree, mostly four or five, the smell was repelling. All the bodies were hung the same way.

Yoshiki picked Ayumi up in his arms, still keeping her head buried in him. He ran, for a long time, eventually getting to a cleaning in the forest to place her down. She was having problems breathing, a panic attack, he sat her on his lap, waiting for it to pass. It continued for ten minutes, not showing any chance of her calming down, she was gripping the fabric of his pants. Yoshiki wrapped his arms around her waist, shushing her silently, trying to calm her down, and still not working.

"Please Ayumi, don't do this to me, feel the air. Into our lungs" He said in a mellow manor, breathing in loudly. "Air in" He repeated breathing in deeply. "Breath with me, Air in" He breathed in loudly again after saying this. It seemed to be working. Her grip on his pants loosened, she started to calm down, letting herself melt in his arms, tired from the lack of air in the panic attack. He sat with her, on the verge of tears at how close he was to losing her, refusing to let go of her, embracing her tightly. She eventually woke up.

"Is it ok now?" He asked her, his voice wobbled from the recent scare he had. She nodded, trying to stand, but falling back in his arms; she was still weak, slowly drifting off to sleep. Sighing, Yoshiki lifted her up to carry her on his back. Holding her hands to together over his chest with his left hand, and holding her legs above his waist with his right. He trekked until he tired, placing Ayumi propped up against a tree, sliding down next to her; she started to move in her sleep again, grabbing him to pull him closer to her. He put his arm around her for good measure, making sure she was there.

"AH! What are you trying to do?" She remembered some of what happened, "What happened?" She rubbed her eyes sleepily.

"You had a panic attack, and passed out; I carried you here, about two and a half miles from the other forest." As he explained it, everything that had happened returned to her.

"What did you mean…" She started.

"What?" He responded.

"You said 'Don't do this to me', what did you mean." She queried

"It's not important…" He responded solemnly. He stood up, stretching, knowing that his affections weren't of the matter right now, her life was. 'I will do anything to keep you alive and safe' He thought. Helping the weak girl up and letting her lean on him.

"Don't get any ideas; I'm only leaning on you for a crutch…" She sounded half mad and half afraid as she said this.

"You really don't trust me…" He muttered under his breath.

"Hmmm?" She pondered.

"Nothing…never mind." He walked at her pace, holding her lightly. They managed to cross a great distance together, but not as far as Yoshiki did when carrying her in a panic. Trying to make conversation as they went Yoshiki asked, "So, Shinozaki, how were your studies going before…all this?" He gestured to the environment around them. He already knew how things were going, they were close friends, but she didn't trust him, she wanted to, but her love for Satoshi and her general anger directed to him kept her at a distance.

"Good enough, how about you?" She was still leaving the distrust in her voice as she spoke.

"After Heavenly Host, I got worse again…" He started staring at his feet, feeling like he had failed her.

"You can't slack off…Gosh, you should try being more like Mochida." She stated bluntly, refusing to look his way. He started to feel tears well up into his eyes, hearing such harsh words from his love; he felt like grabbing the gun from her pocket…and shooting himself, but he knew that the feeling would pass, and he couldn't do that to her, without him she would surely die. He felt tears start to roll down his nose from the harsh words, looking away from Ayumi to keep her from seeing him like this, he hoped that one day, she would be his, or at least trust him. Ayumi heard the quiet groans that Yoshiki was making, looking over to him to see his head turned, starting to feel guilty, she wanted to apologize, but felt like it would just be another point in which he would exploit her.

"Shinozaki…" Yoshiki turned to Ayumi when saying this, "Why don't you trust me?" As he asked this, he tried to hold back tears, only to have his chest feel like a giant hole had begun to appear.

"Because…" She tried to find an excuse 'I do trust you' she thought, "You're not trustworthy." She said it with doubt in her voice. They travelled though the grey forest, Yoshiki felt so much pain right now, like he had a hole cut inside his chest with a searing hot knife. He wanted to try to make it better, kiss her and confess his love, but he knew that would only make things worse, she would trust him less, and probably run off after slapping him and rejecting him. Instead he mustered through the pain. The feeling stayed with him though, scorching his heart.

They found a small place that was perfect to place camp, a sheltered pine was close by, perfect place to sleep without anyone finding them, there were old empty cans there, looking like they had been there from before the world went to shit. Yoshiki picked up a few sticks for a fire, setting one up quickly, when he realized that he needed to teach Ayumi what to do in case she was captured, and how to defend herself. He rose up and put his hand on Ayumi's shoulder, he felt her shiver with what seemed to be fear and disgust.

"Shinozaki, I'm worried that you may be captured, and I don't want anything bad to happen, so I want to show you how to get out of a few situations." He said approaching her.

"Ok…but don't get grabby." She said in a cross between fear and anticipation.

"I won't, don't worry" He set his right arm around her neck and his left around her stomach, very gently, "Keep in mind that the holds will be a lot stronger in the actual situation." He began backing up, "Now what you do is elbow them in the gut, hard, and try to spin them off of you." He spoke smoothly as Ayumi breathed heavily, to have her follow his instruction, and throw him off of her, causing him to stumble. "You're going to need to do that a little harder, but you have the technique." Now if someone grabs you're arm, psychological harm will help, catch them off guard, yank away trying to twist there arm, try doing it lightly on me." He said holding onto her arm, to see her telegraph the movement, "Don't telegraph the movement, it'll only harm you, try again." So she tried again, lightly yanking away from his arm, "Good, once you are away, don't hesitate to stab or shoot the assaulting person, stab them in the gut or in the neck, the organs aren't protected there." Taking her hand meekly and showing her where on the neck and where in the gun. "If you shoot them, then go from under the chin, or into their chest." He said, pointing to the general area that she should shoot aim. "There's a very real possibility that I may die before I can get you to the vault, I just want to know that you can be safe on your own…" He said, somberly towering over her. Ayumi started to feel tears well up, his sad speech hit her hard she didn't want him to die,

'He can't' she thought, "PLEASE, Kishinuma! Don't die; DON'T leave me alone in this world!" She yelled curling up.

"I'll try my best not to…" He gravely said.

"Don't be so grave, you won't die" She started to move towards him, curling up next to him, "promise me, please…"

"I won't die…" Knowing that he had a very high chance of dying, but dying to protect her would be the best death possible, but he still promised her. "We should get some sleep…" He stated pulling her to under the tree so they could be sheltered. As Ayumi drifted off to sleep, Yoshiki stayed up to protect her, soon falling into a light sleep against the tree with the hatchet ready.


	3. First Blood

First Blood

Ayumi lay there, beside Yoshiki, thinking about what he said yesterday, ''Please Ayumi, Don't do this to me, feel the air. Into your lungs' He had said, what does he mean, and why did he use my first name…' She thought, thoroughly wrapped up in thought, thinking about how he had saved her. She wanted to tell him that she trusted him, but he seemed to lightly go off on her, saying "It's not important", he seemed to be held up on his words. What was wrong, and why did she feel this way. Suddenly being reminded of the distrust as Yoshiki grabbed her hand and squeezed lightly, reassuring her.

He woke up slowly, yet immediately looking around to make sure that Ayumi was safe, sheltered by the tree. He reached over when she was deep in thought, looking quite concerned about something, and he squeezed her hand trying to reassure her that things were alright, only to have her move away. He knew, or thought he knew, that he stood no chance of being with her, in any way, whether it be plutonic or otherwise. Getting up and moving out from under the tree; he scouted out the area before moving aside to let Ayumi crawl out. She tapped him on the shoulder.

"Kishinuma…What did you mean?" Ayumi asked, looking up at him with an insecure look.

"Just drop it, you won't want to hear it…" Yoshiki replied, he was annoyed at her persistence, he knew that she would only reject him.

"Please tell me…" Ayumi continued to pursue.

"No."

"Mochida would tell me," She said under her breath. Not noticing Yoshiki cringe and flinch at his love comparing him to his best friend. He knew that he had to protect her, and her being uneasy wouldn't help.

'I can trust him, come on…but Mochida would be so much nicer…' She thought, not being able to get Satoshi off her mind. "Kishinuma…" She whimpered, causing him to slowly turn his head slightly and give an "Hmmm…"

"I…I want to trust you…." She muttered.

'After all I have done for you, how can you not…' He thought. "You can, I won't do anything, I promise…" He said instead.

"Okay…"

The two walked down the dark road, the trees stretched over them making a sort of tunnel. The two walked in silence, trying to hold in their individual thoughts. 'Yoshiki, I'm sorry, I'm sorry that I've treated you so badly, and I trust you, with my life, you've saved me countless times, I want to know that you will protect me…' Ayumi thought. 'Ayumi, I love you, I don't want to lose you, and I would gladly give my life to protect you and shelter you, dying for you would be a good death, a worthy one…' They walked down the road, wrapped up in their individual thoughts, not noticing the small bandit ambush.

"Surrnde or wes blow you away" The first bandit said.

"Look, Henry, hes got a girl." The second bandit spoke; the first must be named Henry.

"George, yus thunkin what Is thunk." Henry spoke to his friend.

"Yep…"

"Stay away, you wouldn't want to meet a…unfortunate demise." Yoshiki threatened loudly; moving Ayumi behind his back.

"Really, you think you can take two of us on, at once..." Henry spoke hysterically; approaching Ayumi, "Wer gunna rape de shit outta you." Letting out a maniacal laugh.

Pushing Ayumi behind a tree, Yoshiki rushed up, "Shinozaki, don't watch" he ordered, she did though, a little. (_A/N: This is where the fun begins and Yoshiki shows the most determination to keep Ayumi safe._) Rushing up, Yoshiki took the axe Henry was wielding, moving with a quick swipe, cutting one of his knees off, then turning to George to cut off his hand, making him drop the tire iron that was in the other, with a second quick swipe, Yoshiki flung the axe straight down the middle of his head, splitting it open letting blood squirt up; then falling over to squirt blood all over Henry, "This is what becomes of anyone trying to hurt Ayumi Shinozaki…" standing angrily over Henry, who was screaming with pain. Yoshiki kicked Henry so he spun around so their faces met, he took his fingers, breaking each and every one of them, then pulling his middle and ring finger out from his hands, pulling the phalanges, carpals, and metacarpals that were connected to the phalanges, and tossing them aside, then taking the hatchet he had, "I have to make sure that you won't harm Shinozaki…", Bringing it down on his groin, lifting it back up to bring it down again. "I will let you live, but spread this message: If anyone has any intentions of harming Ayumi Shinozaki, they better be good at hiding, because I will come for them, and they will hope that this," Gesturing to Henry's sadistic injuries as he spoke, "is all that happens to them…".

Yoshiki wiped off the little blood he got on himself onto the clean parts of George, then returning to Ayumi. "I heard everything…" Ayumi blurted out, "You're not going to do that to me...are you?" She said looking up with scared eyes.

"No, I will only do that to those who try to harm you" Yoshiki answered, "But I don't want you to see what happened." He hid her face in his chest, walking past the bodies and massive blood pool. Letting her push away, Ayumi didn't want to look at the blood bath, making sure she didn't look back; she proceeded in front of Yoshiki. It scared her to see him like this, she knew it was only to defend her, but he was strange ever since coming back from Heavenly Host, always standing up for her, ready to defend her, despite her treating him like crap, he always remained, a Guardian Angel of sorts, except much more violent, but he still defended her. He was a shoulder to lean upon when she felt sad, someone to pick her up when she was weak, a shelter when she was tired, a monolith when she was lost.

She felt the massive amount of walking catch up on her; she started to fall, but felt gentle hands catch her before blacking out. She woke up a while later, her eye's half lidded with exhaust, she felt movement, looking around she saw that she was in Yoshiki's arms once again, him carrying her so gently, she looked up to see him smiling down at her, his eyes closed when he looked down upon her, his slightly silhouetted body made him look once again as a Knight, she fell back asleep soon after.

He stared over at the tranquil sleeping girl that was arms length from him, smiling with love as he kept a watchful eye over her. He poked at the fire he had made, mixing the coals, trying to evenly heat up the can of soup. He thought back to the events earlier that day, he didn't know what had gotten into him, he just knew that the thought of anyone harming Ayumi made a blaze within him, a fire that consumed his pity for the oppressor, making him want them to feel pain, and be removed entirely, but something else dwelled inside of him as well, his love for Ayumi, greater than that of any blaze of his soul or any pain he could endure, he would gladly die for her, and knowing she was alright and with him made him happy, quenching the blaze, calming the storm that existed in him. He looked over to Ayumi as she woke up.

"Sleep well, Shinozaki?" He asked, looking at Ayumi with care.

"More or less, what happened?" She queried as she woke up.

"I got rid of those assholes, then you passed out and I carried you here." He said, looking at the girl start checking to make sure that all her clothes were still intact. She looked at him with caring eyes, she finally knew that she could trust him, he had proved himself worthy, then an epiphany hit her like a train, she could have trusted him this whole time, but she didn't, harming him at every chance, she was terrible to him, but her pride never let her admit it, even now…

"Did you kill them?" She asked humbly.

"One of them, the other I kept alive…" He said, trying not to let her know the storm that dwelled in him.

"Well…you saved me, so that's something…" She stated bluntly, then continuing, "We should get some rest, it's been a long day…" Pulling him to lay down next to her, under a protective tree, she fell asleep…again, but Yoshiki stayed awake as a Sentinel, guarding the girl from all harm.

_A/N: Sorry for the shorter chapter, this one was mostly to progress their disposition to one another, and to establish that from this point forward, I'm probably going to include as much gore as possible… Sorry for those who don't like it._


	4. Saving Ayumi Shinozaki

_A/N: So I've decided to shorten the total length of the story, not in words but in chapters…_

Saving Ayumi Shinozaki

Yoshiki woke up deep in thought, thinking of if he should confess, 'If I do, it'll be a massive weight off my chest, but I do run a high risk of being shot down, and this isn't the place…' He thought to himself, looking down to the small girl sleeping beside him, to make sure she was well.

Ayumi, on the other hand, was debating in her mind between Satoshi and Yoshiki, 'Satoshi is kind and smart and loyal, but Kishinuma stayed with me through Heavenly Host, and he is so nice to me, but he wouldn't stay loyal, he's probably jealous over Satoshi about Naomi…' She thought; starting to stir.

Ayumi got up and sat next to the blonde boy, feeling his hand snake around her shoulder to pull her closer, reassuring him that she was alright.

_Crack_

Yoshiki hugged her for a split second, he knew that he had to remain vigilante, nothing could happen to Ayumi, 'nothing could happen to MY Ayumi' Thinking, then hearing something.

**Crack**

He turned around to knock out a Khan, only to be swarmed by ten others. One walked over to Ayumi, who was restrained by two men, and stroked her cheek.

"Don't touch her asshole!" Yoshiki yelled, raising his hatchet up to attack but ultimately hit in the back of his head with a baseball bat. Before he knew it, he was laying on the floor, his vision fading, but he remained conscious enough to hear Ayumi's screams for help.

Ayumi had been taken to a large blue house on the edge of a clearing. She had been taken to the top floor, and she was forced to kneel down, and she was blindfolded, with her hands and feet bond. She heard two figures talking.

"Oi Kizami, mind if I have some fun with this one before we kill her?" a Figure asked.

"Go right ahead Alfie, I'm in no rush." The current one speaking must be Kizami and the other Alfie. Ayumi heard footsteps coming over to her and Alfie mumbling growing loader. Next she heard the rattle of a belt buckle being taken off. She also heard a ruckus down stairs.

"Open wide" Alfie said, pulling down on her chin.

She heard a crash, like drywall breaking and some type of warm sticky fluid on her face (_A/N: It's not what you think it is…)_ She started to panic.

_ A/N: This is a good intermission point, go get food and a drink before continuing, well, no, not food or a drink, just stretch, you'll see why…_

Yoshiki woke up to see the Khan that he knocked out still knocked out. Yoshiki got up and checked the body, to find a small arsenal hidden within the Khan's jacket, a strange spear, an axe, and a few other things. Yoshiki collected the spear and axe, and then scrapped the edge of his hatchet against the Khan's throat. He felt a blaze returning to his stomach, this stronger than the last, consuming his moral compass and making him want to make the people that had captured Ayumi wish for eternal damnation, and after he was done with them, they would.

"What-What do you want man?" The Khan struggled as he spoke, only to be met by the stern cold look of Yoshiki. "Right You want to know where they are, just don't kill me! They are on the edge of a clearing in a massive blue house, you can't miss it, and it's that way" The Khan gestured to the direction of the safe house. Yoshiki got one hard look at the Khan before knocking him out again.

A dark somber figure approached the safe house, a twisted smirk on his face, Yoshiki walked to the door, and standing aside from the sliding peep latch, knocked. (_A/N: For this next sequence, just remember that this is all happening in a timeframe of about fifteen seconds._)

"Who's there?" A khan asked, only to have a spear driven though his head a second later, splattering blood outwards, and his body fell limp against the door, pulling down on the spear causing his head to break open. The other Khans stared at the door terrified. Yoshiki stepped though a second later, paying no attention to the man on the stairs except for the hatchet he planted in his neck, but going through the rest of his head to achieve such a position. The six other Khans attacked, and unlike the ambush, Yoshiki bested them, doing small spins to incorporate their attacked on each other. He finally attacked, punching a man in the nose hard enough to break his nose and maxilla pallet, as well as snapping his head back fast enough to kill him. The next man wasn't so lucky, Yoshiki broke his leg at the knee, crimpling him to the flour, Yoshiki then turned to face another man, grabbing his wrists and kicking him backwards, ripping off his arms to beat another man with. The last two men tried to run, but Yoshiki caught them, throwing one against the tables edge, breaking the table and puncturing the man's chest with a broken table leg, the other, Yoshiki picked up by the collar and pant edge, repeatedly smashing his head into a support beam in the wall, eventually smashing his entire head into puree, minus one eyeball that hung from the remains. The man that he had broke the knee of earlier was faced with a fear, trying to crawl away but only to have Yoshiki step on his bottom and take his leg in his hand, ripping it off and beating the man to death with it. Yoshiki walked to the stairs, walking up the stairs with heavy feet, he approached the only closed door, but stopped at the wall when he heard, "Open wide!", immediately knowing what was occurring, he smashed his hand through the drywall, and pushing it to puncture and enter Alfie's stomach, grabbing his intestine at the pyloric sphincter, then kicking through the wall with his other foot to send the man flying out of the window, his intestine trailing behind him as Yoshiki held onto it, hanging the man's body from the window. He looked down on Ayumi who had gotten a small amount of blood on her face (_A/N: See, told you_) but cut off by Kizami yelling out in genuine fear, it was the first time that he had ever experienced fear from a massacre, most of the time just making him sexual, but what Yoshiki had just done, scared Kizami half to death. Kizami ran out of the door, Yoshiki was about to follow when he heard Ayumi say something, "Yoshiki, if only I had been nicer to you, I wouldn't b here now…" She sobbed, Yoshiki squatted down, wiping his hands on the nearby linen, then trailed his hands down to her wrists, untying them, then to her feet, and Finally her blind.

"Yoshiki!" Ayumi squealed as the blind was removed and she met face to face with her savior, he looked so kind despite the slaughter that had endured only seconds ago. Ayumi wrapped her hands around her guardian's neck. 'Yoshiki, I think…I love you' she thought, pulling back slightly to look at him, then 'Yes, I definitely love you, now if only you would as well.'

Yoshiki looked at her with the cold eyes he had terrified the men with, now turned soft and loving, he could feel the fire quenched. "It's okay, you're safe now" He calmly said enveloping her into an embrace. She noticed the massive hole in the wall, pulling back to look at him, "You did that huh?' She said pointing to the wall.

"Yeah…let's get you out of here!" He said, picking her up, holding her close to him, and running out of the house, pulling her head closer as he passed the corpses. The two finally managed to get to a clearing extremely close to the vault, unbeknownst of the mutual love they had, they rested, knowing that everything was going to be alright.

_A/N: Next chapter is the last!  
_


	5. Fallen

_A/N:When reading this, I strongly suggest you go to the URL in the summary, and put / in front of it, and it makes the story ten times better, be warned though, it goes along with the stories feeling._

Fallen

Ayumi woke up to a generous sight, Yoshiki covering her with his jacket; she smiled contently in her sleep. She lucidly experienced it, hearing him say that he loved her, she felt so content, finally getting the relief she wanted, lost in him. She looked up to see him shocked.

"Were you listening?" He said, shocked.

"Did you mean it? Do you love me?" She queried, as she yawned and rubbed her eyes lazily with her balled up hands.

"Y-ye-ye-yes…" He managed to say.

"I love you too…Yoshiki" She looked lovingly at him, content with this moment. Snuggling up to him, she wanted to be comfortable.

"Ayumi…We'll have plenty of time for this in the vault…I want to get you there first…" He chuckled at her loving behavior, picking her up to carry her to the vault. He started carrying her across the large field, the tall grass and pollen glazing the moment in a dull yellow, giving it both a somber and a warm feel, strange enough. Yoshiki gazed down at his lover, feeling euphoria rush him over. He wished this romantic moment could be remembered forever, him carrying his angel across the field, her looking half asleep…

**Pang.**_Blip…_** Pang.**_Blip…_** Pang.**_Blip…_

. . .

. . .

. . .

Yoshiki fell to his knees, gently putting Ayumi down, even in extreme pain and death. Ayumi looked up with horrified eyes as she saw her Guardian, her Sentinel, fall. Three shots landed square in his back, she looked up with teary eyes to see Kizami approach.

"No rabbit gets away from me…" He said, yanking Ayumi's arm. She kept weeping, she felt the gun she had in her pocket the whole trip. Taking the gun out and pointing it at Kizami's head, firing once, allowing a large amount of blood to stain the field as he fell dead.

"A-a-Ayu-Ayumi…" Yoshiki struggled to say, causing her to run to his side.

"Yoshiki, don't die please, for me, be alright, don't die." She said, Yoshiki calmly let her ramble on, polite even in death.

"Ayumi, we won't be able to fix this" He said, gesturing to his wounds, his lung had been punctured, causing him to struggle in speech.

"No, we will and you and I will live together and be happy and I'll always have you and you'll always have me and we'll be together and we'll grow up and still be together, because I love you Yoshiki and we need to always be together," Ayumi rambled on to the shivering figure in her lap, Yoshiki's skin went pail and he convulsed as he died.

"_Shhhhhhhh….._ Ayumi, it's going…to be alright… I died….a good death, defending you….my love…I will always be….with you, in spirit, and alwaysbe…watching over you" His speech was staggered with his staggered breaths, "Ayumi, I…love you…I love you so much, more than words can express…." His life was slowly fading away from Ayumi.

"I love you too" She said through tears, giving him a peck on the lips.

"Don't worry….even… ….I'll.. ," He cupped her cheek with his now white hand, it was cold to the touch of her skin. "Ayumi…I'm sorry" He started cracking down in tears, thinking of all the things that they wouldn't be able to do.

"It's okay, I'm the one who should be sorry I shouldn't have treated you so badly." She landed a peck on his lips.

"Ayumi, I want you to be the last person I see, please, smile, you're so beautiful when you smile" He said, his breathing easing with the final breaths he drew.

"Thank you, Yoshiki, please don't leave me" Her short-lived smile dying soon.

"I won't, I'll always be there for you" His logic fading as he approached death.

"You're not going to die, please Yoshiki, please" Her sobs growing louder as she clutched his dead body, he had died a content death.


	6. Epilogue

Epilogue

Ayumi stood up after hours of crying and holding the dead body to her chest, acting as if her sorrow could make him live again. She walked the short distance to the vault. She pressed the button on the intercom.

"Hello" It answered.

"I…am Ayumi Shinozaki, requesting entrance" She somberly said.

"Ms. Shinozaki, glad to see you've made it." The voice happily piped. Ayumi wanted to kill the person over the intercom for being so happy, in a time like this.

The door opened revealing her worried family and friends, who instantly noticed Yoshiki wasn't with her, and that she looked rough. Hinoe sensed what happened first, she knew Yoshiki, and she had met him before and knew before her sister that Ayumi loved him, whether she showed it or not. Everyone ran to comfort her, moving her to her room, while a spare set of police men went out to retrieve the bodies.

_Knock…Knock…Knock_

"Shinozaki?" Satoshi peered in her room with Naomi to see her huddled in a ball on her bed.

"Shinozaki are you alright…" Naomi asked.

"These are nice dorms, though, right." Satoshi said, trying to make light of the situation, only to get a look from Naomi to shut up.

_Gtfko…_

Naomi and Satoshi looked to see what Ayumi mumbled, She looked up, directly at Satoshi, anger boiled across her face, another stage of the grieving process.

"Get the fuck out, Satoshi, Naomi can stay, but you get out, you're the reason he's dead you FUCKING PUSSY, GROW A FUCKING BACKBONE!" She was yelling at this point, Satoshi could only look shocked as she yelled and cursed at him. "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT YOU SHIT-HEADED ASSHOLE" She vented, watching Satoshi run away for the time being.

"Nakashima why him why did Yoshiki have to die and right after he saved me and he told me that he loved me only to be killed the very next instant and and and…" Ayumi was hyperventilating as she rambled.

"It's going to be alright…" Naomi said. 'I sure wish Yoshiki was here, he'd know how to calm her down.' She thought, 'Then again, she wouldn't be crying if he was here' She rubbed Ayumi's back trying to comfort her.

Hinoe entered the room, comforting her sister along with Naomi. She knew Yoshiki before the apocalypse, accidently getting acquainted, learning about his crush on her sister and knew that he was a loyal and loving person disguised as a delinquent, she tried to help him, but he kindly refused, saying he'd rather have Ayumi love him on her own time, if it were to ever happen. After Heavenly Host, Ayumi had a dependency on him, and Hinoe recognized her as coming out of her shell to realize her love, but stopping halfway, until he paid the ultimate price.

"He was killed and now he's dead, and I miss him, I wish I was with him I want to be with him, I…I…I loved him so much and he died for me and its all my fault" Ayumi rambled, missing Yoshiki.

"He died a happy death, being a Guardian to you, I'm sure he was happy to die in the hopes that you might live…" Hinoe said.

"The best thing to do is remember the good times…" Naomi added.

"But we didn't get any time together as a couple and I want to be with him and he's dead and I can't do this anymore." Ayumi sobbed on Naomi and Hinoe.

"Maybe you should write about all the times you had with him" Her sister suggested.

Ayumi nodded in agreement and waited for her friend and family to leave, taking out her spirit book to notice an entry titled: My dear Ayumi, reading it carefully.

Ayumi, I love you more than I can express and I wanted you to have something of mine is I die, it may not be much but I want to know that you'll remember me, not for how I died, but for who I was and know that I love you, and will always love you, you are the water that quenches the blaze inside of me that is anger, you are the piece of me I never had, and possibly never have, you are the best person for me, making me want to carry on through life, and I want you to know that I love you, more than anything, I would choose you above anyone else to spend my life with, I love you and I won't ever leave you.

-Yoshiki Kishinuma

Ayumi's eye caught onto the photos that were tucked in the binding, a picture of her and a picture of him, as well as a picture of the two together, he left a metal heart with the small words printed in it, Ayumi Shinozaki and Yoshiki Kishinuma, she clutched it dear, holding it close to her chest, craving his feel again, his touch, his smell, his presence.


End file.
